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Timing of RFID Adoption in a Supply Chain

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  • Seungjin Whang

    (Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305)

Abstract

This paper studies the incentives behind the adoption of radio-frequency identification (RFID) in a supply chain. One prominent feature of RFID technology is that once RFID tags are attached on the items at an upstream site, the same tags can be reused at its downstream sites at lower or zero variable cost. This creates an interesting, one-sided "free-rider" problem, where the downstream would wait to free-ride on the upstream's first move, but not vice versa. Using a stylized game-theoretic model, we characterize the equilibrium strategies of the two firms. Compared to the first-best solution, firms in equilibrium tend to adopt too late. We then study the dual benefits of technology coordination between the two firms and find that it would not only save redundant costs of putting tags, but also speed up the downstream's RFID adoption. We also show that the equal-cost-split arrangement shifts the benefit of free-riding to the upstream, thereby mitigating the negative impacts in many cases. But it may distort the market when it operates in the optimal manner. The general message of the model is that technology coordination and cost-split each contribute to the mitigation of the free-rider problem in RFID adoption.

Suggested Citation

  • Seungjin Whang, 2010. "Timing of RFID Adoption in a Supply Chain," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(2), pages 343-355, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:56:y:2010:i:2:p:343-355
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1090.1121
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Wenjie Tang & Tong Wang & Wenxin Xu, 2022. "Sooner or Later? The Role of Adoption Timing in New Technology Introduction," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(4), pages 1663-1678, April.
    2. Ahmed Musa & Al-Amin Abba Dabo, 2016. "A Review of RFID in Supply Chain Management: 2000–2015," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 17(2), pages 189-228, June.
    3. Zhou, Wei & Piramuthu, Selwyn, 2012. "Manufacturing with item-level RFID information: From macro to micro quality control," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 929-938.
    4. WenJie Wang & Qi Xu & Dandan Fan, 2018. "Stein-Rule Combination Forecasting on RFID Based Supply Chain," Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research (APJOR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 35(02), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Zhu, Shichao & Li, Jian & Wang, Shouyang & Xia, Yusen & Wang, Yajing, 2023. "The role of blockchain technology in the dual-channel supply chain dominated by a brand owner," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    6. Daeheon Choi & Chune Young Chung & Kaun Y. Lee, 2018. "Sustainable Diffusion of Inter-Organizational Technology in Supply Chains: An Approach to Heterogeneous Levels of Risk Aversion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Lee, Jongkuk & Palekar, Udatta S. & Qualls, William, 2011. "Supply chain efficiency and security: Coordination for collaborative investment in technology," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 210(3), pages 568-578, May.
    8. Bo Yan & Zijie Jin & Lifeng Liu & Si Liu, 2018. "Factors influencing the adoption of the internet of things in supply chains," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 523-545, August.
    9. Maciej Kiedrowicz & Tadeusz Nowicki & Robert Waszkowski & Zbigniew Wesołowski & Kazimierz Worwa, 2016. "The characteristics investigation method of RFID document flow process in the state administration," Collegium of Economic Analysis Annals, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis, issue 42, pages 170-182.
    10. Piramuthu, Selwyn & Wochner, Sina & Grunow, Martin, 2014. "Should retail stores also RFID-tag ‘cheap’ items?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 233(1), pages 281-291.
    11. Li-Hao Zhang & Shan-Shan Wang, 2022. "Strategic analysis of RFID adoption sequences in a supply chain with Cournot competition: effects of ordering-timing strategies," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(2), pages 2169-2208, August.
    12. Yang, Huixiao & Chen, Wenbo, 2020. "Game modes and investment cost locations in radio-frequency identification (RFID) adoption," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 286(3), pages 883-896.
    13. Sulin Ba & Barrie R. Nault, 2017. "Emergent Themes in the Interface Between Economics of Information Systems and Management of Technology," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(4), pages 652-666, April.
    14. Dai, Hongyan & Ge, Ling & Zhou, Weihua, 2015. "A design method for supply chain traceability systems with aligned interests," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(PA), pages 14-24.
    15. Joshi, Raunak & Basu, Sumanta & Jonnalagedda, Sreelata & Avittathur, Balram, 2023. "Multichannel retailer’s channel choice and product pricing: Influence of investment in fit-disclosing technology by competing retailers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    16. Xiang Ning Zhu & Gabrielle Peko & David Sundaram & Selwyn Piramuthu, 2022. "Blockchain-Based Agile Supply Chain Framework with IoT," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 563-578, April.
    17. Pfohl, Hans-Christian & Yahsi, Burak & Kurnaz, Tamer, 2015. "The Impact of Industry 4.0 on the Supply Chain," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Kersten, Wolfgang & Blecker, Thorsten & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Innovations and Strategies for Logistics and Supply Chains: Technologies, Business Models and Risk Management. Proceedings of the Hamburg Internationa, volume 20, pages 31-58, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    18. Tao, Feng & Wang, Liang & Fan, Tijun & Yu, Hao, 2022. "RFID adoption strategy in a retailer-dominant supply chain with competing suppliers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 302(1), pages 117-129.
    19. Grunow, Martin & Piramuthu, Selwyn, 2013. "RFID in highly perishable food supply chains – Remaining shelf life to supplant expiry date?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 717-727.
    20. Wei Zhou & Selwyn Piramuthu, 2018. "IoT security perspective of a flexible healthcare supply chain," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 141-153, September.

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